NBA Free Agency 2012: Teams Who Are Taking a Big Step Back

The NBA free-agency period is a chance for teams to improve by acquiring those missing pieces in the ever-constant effort to reach the promised land.

While no team goes into free agency looking to get worse, not every team can improve. Some teams will lose out on players, others will overpay for their acquired talent, and some will take risks that just don't work out.

The 2012 NBA free-agency period has been a big one so far, and while there have been many winners (the Los Angeles Lakers signing Steve Nash, the Brooklyn Nets re-signing Deron Williams), there have certainly been a handful of losers.

Let's check out some NBA teams who have taken a step back in free agency.

If you're going to lose a talented player (and Anderson is a talented player, averaging 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds last season) then it's better to get something rather than nothing. Credit the Orlando front office for managing to get a young prospect in Ayon for a guy who was ready to leave anyway.

That said, the Magic certainly did take a step back. Ayon has solid potential, but he's not Anderson, and he might never be. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in his rookie year last season for the Hornets.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks aren't worse than they were last year—in fact, they might be better. But they're worse than they were in 2011 because they took a gamble in free agency that didn't pay off.

Dallas took a risk in 2011, deciding to swing for the fences rather than play it safe. The Mavericks let center Tyson Chandler, a huge part of their title run, leave and sign with the New York Knicks to conserve cap space for the 2012 free agency run. Speculation bloomed that they were hoping to sign both Dwight Howardand Deron Williams.

Of course, Howard remains in Orlando and Williams remains in Brooklyn. While the Mavericks did sign O.J. Mayo, he's a poor consolidation prize after sacrificing a potential title contender to go after Dwight and/or Deron. Mayo is a decent pickup, no doubt, but not much more than decent.

Truth be told, their best move was a sign-and-trade with Indiana that swapped backup center Ian Mahinmi for Darren Collison.The Collison acquisition was a very smart move and helps ease the disappointment of missing out on Williams... a little bit, at least.

The Mavericks didn't take a HUGE step back—heck, a starting five of Collison, Mayo, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Kaman might be stronger than last year—but their title window is officially closed.

You can make the argument that it was the right fiscal decision for the Knicks (their luxury tax fee in three years could have been as high as $40 million, according to reports), but in terms of talent, they took a step back. Lin is a better player than Felton and Kidd combined at this point.

Lin averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists on 44.5 percent shooting as a starter for the Knicks, while Felton really struggled for the Trail Blazers last year, averaging 11.4 points and 6.5 assists on 40.7 percent shooting. The good news for Knicks fans is Felton's best year came two years ago as a Knick, when he averaged 17.1 points and 9.0 assists, but that was in the Mike D'Antoni era of fast-break basketball, and new coach Mike Woodson favors a much different style.

Fiscally, it could be argued the Knicks needed to let Lin go. But Felton is not a better player than Lin, and thus the Knicks took a step back.